A driver who left an Angus mum with “life-threatening” injuries following a horrific road smash has launched an appeal against his prison sentence.
Scott Fairweather was jailed after skipping a red light and colliding at high speed with Rachel Ward’s car in Forfar last November.
Miss Ward spent a fortnight in Ninewells Hospital with a collapsed lung and broken pelvis and now suffers from a heart murmur.
She previously revealed she was “overjoyed” after hearing that Fairweather had been locked up.
A sheriff told Fairweather he saw no alternative to a custodial sentence and ordered the 28-year-old to serve 40 months in prison.
However, Fairweather has now lodged an appeal bid at the High Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.
Miss Ward has hit out at Fairweather’s appeal and believes he should have received a longer prison term.
She said: “I am sickened by this.
“I’m still in my recovery and this type of news is setting me back.
“I still struggle to got out in public, I’m on strong painkillers and I’m undergoing physio weekly.”
She added: “He has shown absolutely no remorse and I actually hope they increase his sentence.”
Dundee Sheriff Court previously heard how Fairweather took his girlfriend’s blue Vauxhall Corsa before crashing into Miss Ward’s Corsa on North Street in the early hours of November 15.
Shocking CCTV footage showed Miss Ward’s car being propelled 15 metres across the road and into a traffic light. Fairweather suffered a broken leg but still managed to run away.
The court heard how Fairweather, of Easterbank, Forfar, had taken his friend Lennon Russell for a drive in his partner’s car without her knowledge.
Fiscal depute Kirsten Letford said: “Miss Ward went through the lights and the offside of her vehicle was struck at speed by the front of the blue Corsa driven by the accused.
“The accused drove through a red light and the impact of the collision projected her 15 metres north to North Street, mounting a kerb and striking a traffic light pole.
“This caused it to bend at a 45-degree angle. The accused’s vehicle was projected further and crashed into a wall.
“The accused and his friend then ran off towards North Street.”
Miss Ward had to be cut free by firefighters. She suffered a fractured pelvis, a collapsed lung, broken ribs and was treated in intensive care due to her “life-threatening” injuries.
Speaking after Fairweather was jailed, Miss Ward said: “I am overjoyed.
“He left me for dead and I had been saying for the last few days that he was going to get away with it. So I’m surprised but I’m delighted.
“I feel like I have gotten justice and I’m definitely going to be celebrating.”
When passing sentence, Sheriff Richard McFarlane told Fairweather: “The aftermath of the collision with Rachel Ward’s vehicle is all consistent with a very high rate of speed,” he told Fairweather.
“Not content with having caused significant damage to the vehicle driven by her, you then leave the scene and take significant steps to disassociate yourself with having anything to do with the driving of your girlfriend’s car.
“You leave the scene leaving a badly damaged vehicle and, in that vehicle, the driver was trapped and had to be cut out and taken to hospital where her injuries were described as life-threatening. Two weeks hospitalisation and continuing rehabilitation not to mention the mental trauma of this horrendous experience.
“I see no alternative to a custodial sentence.”
Fairweather’s appeal will be heard later this month and he remains in custody.
